Late last March, the infrastructure of Atlanta was

brought to its knees. More than a third of 424

programs used nearly every day by city officials

of all types, including everyone from police

officers to trash collectors to water management

employees, were knocked out of commission.

What’s worse, close to 30% of these programs

were considered “mission critical,” according to

Atlanta’s Information Management head, Daphne

Rackley.

The culprit wasn’t some horrific natural disaster

or mechanical collapse; it was a small package of

code called SAMSAM, a virus that managed to

penetrate the networks of a $371 billion city

economy and wreak havoc on its systems. After

the malicious software wormed its way into the

network, locking hundreds of city employees out

of their computers, hackers demanded a $50,000

Bitcoin ransom to release their grip on the data.

While officials remain quiet about the entry point

of SAMSAM or their response to the ransom,

within two weeks of the attack, total recovery

costs already exceeded $2.6 million, and Rackley

estimates they’ll climb at least another $9.5

million over the coming year.

It’s a disturbing cautionary tale not only for other

city governments, but for organizations of all

sizes with assets to protect. Atlanta wasn’t the

only entity to buckle under the siege of

SAMSAM. According to a report from security

software firm Sophos, SAMSAM has snatched

almost $6 million since 2015, casting a wide net

over more than 233 victims of all types. And, of

course, SAMSAM is far from the only

ransomware that can bring calamity to an

organization.

If you’re a business owner, these numbers should

serve as a wake-up call. It’s very simple: in 2018,

lax, underfunded cyber security will not cut it.

When hackers are ganging up on city

governments like villains in an action movie,

that’s your cue to batten down the hatches and

protect your livelihood.

Our Mission: To build a community of successful-minded entrepreneurs that inspires excellence, encourages collaboration

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Tech Tip

Mousing Around

Have you ever wanted to change the size of a web pages text because it was too small or too large? You can accomplish this rather quickly if you have

a “wheel” mouse. Simply press and hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard while rotating

the wheel on top of your mouse, forwards for bigger

text and backwards for smaller text. Now, if you don’t have a “wheel” mouse, you too can achieve the same results by holding the Ctrl key down while either pressing the +

(plus) or – (minus) key.

This monthly publication provided

courtesy of Gary Darby, President of

Think Unified. Company.

October 2018

How To Make Sure You Never Fall Victim

To Ransomware

Continued on pg.2

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Technology Times October 2018

Free Report: What Every Small-Business Owner Must Know About Protecting

And Preserving Their Company’s Critical Data And Computer Systems

The question is, how? When ransomware is so abundant and pernicious,

what’s the best way to keep it from swallowing your organization whole?

1. BACK UP YOUR STUFF

If you’ve ever talked to anyone with even the slightest bit of IT

knowledge, you’ve probably heard how vital it is that you regularly back

up everything in your system, and it’s true. If you don’t have a real-time

or file-sync backup strategy, one that will actually allow you to roll back

everything in your network to before the infection happened, then once

ransomware hits and encrypts your files, you’re basically sunk. Preferably,

you’ll maintain several different copies of backup files in multiple

locations, on different media that malware can’t spread to from your

primary network. Then, if it breaches your defenses, you can pinpoint the

malware, delete it, then restore your network to a pre-virus state,

drastically minimizing the damage and totally circumventing paying out a

hefty ransom.

2. GET EDUCATED

We’ve written before that the biggest security flaw to your business isn’t

that free, outdated antivirus you’ve installed, but the hapless employees

who sit down at their workstations each day. Ransomware can take on

some extremely tricky forms to hoodwink its way into your network, but

if your team can easily recognize social engineering strategies, shady

clickbait links and the dangers of unvetted attachments, it will be much,

much more difficult for ransomware to find a foothold. These are by

far the most common ways that malware finds it’s way in.

3. LOCK IT DOWN

By whitelisting applications, keeping everything updated with the

latest patches and restricting administrative privileges for most users,

you can drastically reduce the risk and impact of ransomware. But it’s

difficult to do this without an entire team on the case day by day.

That’s where a managed services provider becomes essential,

proactively managing your network to plug up any security holes

long before hackers can sniff them out.

The bad news is that ransomware is everywhere. The good news is

that with a few fairly simple steps, you can secure your business

against the large majority of threats. Education is paramount when it

comes to cybersecurity because you are only as strong as your

weakest link. If your company needs a refresher in order to better

defend from potential cyber attacks, contact us today at (972)864-3433

or info@thinkunified.com. We are also offering a free course on

cybersecurity training at http://www.thinkunified.com/cyber-

security-training/. Don’t wait until you’re the next victim.

“The question is, how? When

ransomware is so abundant and

pernicious, what’s the best way to

keep it from swallowing your

organization whole?”

Download your FREE copy today at

www.thinkunified.com/protect

or call our office at (972) 864-3433.

Continued from pg.1

This report will outline in plain, nontechnical English common mistakes that many

small-business owners make with their computer networks that cost them thousands

in lost sales, productivity and computer repair bills, and will provide an easy, proven

way to reduce or completely eliminate the financial expense and frustration caused

by these oversights.

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Technology Times October 2018

1 Lead by example. Show your team members how it’s done, and dedicate yourself to showing your passion and motivation in everything you do. When your team members see your genuine excitement and enthusiasm, they’ll be much more likely to increase their energy levels and get on board.

2 Honesty is the best policy. It’s vital that you be open and honest about the task at hand. You must get your team members to understand why the task is so important to you personally and to the company as a whole. Not every goal, task, or objective will foster the same amount of excitement and teamwork. If what you want is challenging or risky, let your team know. They’ll respect your transparency and be more likely to trust you and your leadership.

3 Find balance. There are two surefire ways to destroy motivation among team members. The first is

micromanaging, and the second is being so hands-off that your team doesn’t know what to do when problems arise. Give your team the freedom they need to feel empowered, but stay involved so that you can provide the necessary guidance when team members get discouraged.

4 Expect results and celebrate victories. Before you give your team their marching orders, let them know you have confidence in their abilities. Take time to explain why a successful outcome is important to you and the business. They’ll be more likely to meet your expectations, not because they’re doing it for your sake, but because they’re working harder for the benefit of the team as a whole.

It’s crucial to celebrate wins with the team and to express your appreciation. An individual reward can be a great motivational tool, but it’s just as important that you celebrate as a team.

4

Andy Bailey is the founder, CEO and lead business coach at Petra, an organization

dedicated to helping business owners across the world achieve levels of success they never

thought possible. With personal experience founding an Inc. 500 multimillion-dollar

company that he then sold and exited, Bailey founded Petra to pass on the principles and

practices he learned along the way. As his clients can attest, he can cut through

organizational BS faster than a hot knife through butter.

Shiny New Gadget

Of The Month:

Clocky The Alarm Clock On Wheels

Waking up can be difficult. Even the most driven people occasionally struggle to get out of bed in the morning, pounding the snooze button ad infinitum until we finally force ourselves upright, dazed and groggy from interrupted sleep.

That’s where Clocky, the alarm clock on wheels, comes in. Clocky is an adorable little digital timekeeper to keep by your bed; it will be your best friend until it comes time to rise in the morning. By default, it’ll give you a single press of the snooze for free, but once you hit snooze for the second time, it’ll speed off and start wheeling around your room, beeping and making a racket until you catch it and send it back to sleep. If you or someone you know struggles to get out of bed in the morning, Clocky will be a trusted ally in your mission to start the day.

Entrepreneurs and business leaders often find that motivating team members is one of the most challenging parts of the job. Leaders seldom lack self-motivation — it’s so second nature to them that they get frustrated when a team member doesn’t appear to have the same level of drive and ambition.

One of the most frequently asked questions I hear from business leaders is “How can I motivate my team?” Imagine their surprise when I tell them, “You can’t.” My responsibility as a coach is to help company leaders grasp the underlying reasons for their own motivation and ensure that those reasons are consistent with the goals and objectives of their business. In the same way, leaders need to stop looking for ways to motivate and instead find ways to inspire team members to seek out their own motivation.

Business leaders must understand that team members will not always share their outlook or passion. Instead of forcing your will on others, use these four approaches to inspire motivation in your team.

Ways To Keep Your Team Inspired

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Technology Times October 2018

2 Sneaky Ways Hackers

Will Rob You Blind

We’ve said it before and we’ll

say it again: cyber-attacks

aren’t limited to big

corporations and government

organizations. Verizon’s 2018

Data Breach Investigations

Report states that 58%of data

breaches in 2017 occurred at

small businesses. And

according to Verizon’s data,

there are two specific hacking

techniques on the

rise today that small

businesses should know

about.

The first technique is point-of-

sale (POS) system hacking. If

you’re in the hospitality

industry, this should

definitely be on your radar.

Verizon recorded 368 POS

incidents in 2017, most

instigated by hackers

penetrating the system rather

than employees making

mistakes that opened up

vulnerabilities. Usually,

hackers will steal credentials

directly from a POS service

provider, which enables them

to exploit the POS systems

used by that provider’s

customers.

The second is called financial

pretexting. Instead of phishing

a business and installing

malware, attackers

impersonate a high-level

employee within an

organization — often using a

legitimate but compromised e-

mail account — to steal funds

or sensitive information from

the company’s finance or HR

department. As always,

forewarned is forearmed.

Equip your teams with the

know-how to avoid these

scams and you will be ahead

of the game.

SmallBizTrends.com, 5/1/2018 Top Training Tips To

Improve Your Team’s

Customer Satisfaction Skills

When customers leave

dissatisfied after interactions

with your business, the

problem is likely more

systemic than you realize. It

can be hard to get a handle on

poor customer satisfaction, but

one of the best ways to

address it is through

comprehensive onboarding

and training programs for

your employees.

Don’t make training a

grueling info dump — the

human mind can take in only

so much data at once. It’s best

to split up your training

programs into manageable

chunks to ensure all the

information gets absorbed.

And give

employees the tools to manage

their own training. The ability

to dip in and out of training

modules allows them to move

at their own pace, which

greatly increases retention

rates. Most importantly, don’t

waste your employees’ time

with big, clunky meetings,

when individually tailored

programs will suffice.

SmallBiztrends.com, 7/20/ 2018

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